


Realization

by BlackKittens



Category: Big Hero 6 (2014)
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, I might add more and make it happier later but not now, There's really not that much to this, Well an attempt at comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-02
Updated: 2018-11-02
Packaged: 2019-08-14 11:30:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16491746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackKittens/pseuds/BlackKittens
Summary: Reality doesn't set in until Tadashi's already in his parents' arms.





	Realization

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is an attempt to unblock myself, hence why it might not be that great. (Writer's block sucks.) I don't know why my go-to is angst. If I want to write fluff for the Hamada brothers or shippy stuff for my ships, my mind goes blank, but I managed to push this out.
> 
> Ah, well. There isn't a real happy ending here. Sometime in the future, I may edit and add onto this to give it a happier ending where Tadashi gradually makes peace with his death, but for now, have him crying upon reuniting with his mom and dad! :D I'm sorry.

The last time Tadashi had hugged his mother, he had been ten years old and barely reached her chest. Now, at twenty-one, he towered over his mother by half a head. That didn't stop her from pulling him down into her arms, though, much like the slightly taller Aunt Cass often did, and hugging him tight. His dad, who used to look as a big as a skyscraper to him but was now just a hair taller, wrapped his arms around the both of them. Tadashi had no idea what he was feeling.

He had never imagined meeting his parents again like this. If there was an afterlife - which, evidently, there was - he had always pictured seeing them again after passing away as _an old man_. Not as a college student caught in an explosion. Not at only twenty-one years old. Not while Aunt Cass was still in her prime and Hiro a kid. Tadashi had _never_ considered dying so young. Yet here he was, dead before his twenty-second birthday and back in the arms of his parents.

That was the only solace. He had missed his parents for so long. He had missed hugging them, hearing them tell him they loved him, seeing them at his school events - it was hard growing up without them. It was harder growing up without them and watching Hiro gradually forget them, until only Aunt Cass truly understood how he felt. The fact that they were here, had always been here watching over him, were hugging him now - it was the only solace Tadashi had, especially as the horror of the situation sunk in.

He was dead. Tadashi Hamada was dead. His body was inside that building, lifeless and already burned beyond recognition under a fallen beam. He was dead and never coming back. Tadashi would never plan, design, build, or code another invention. He would never get Baymax patented and as freely distributed as possible like he had intended. He would never attend class again, nor become a successful, renowned inventor. And he couldn't hug his friends, Aunt Cass, or Hiro anymore, not until they died, too. His future, and many of his relationships as they had been, were over. It was a chilling, horrifying realization.

"Mom, Dad...!" he choked, tears brimming in his eyes, and buried his face in his mother's shoulder.

"It's going to be okay, sweetheart. You're safe now," his mother gently reassured him, smoothing a hand over his back. "It's going to be okay."

"We're so proud of you," his father added, tone light. "You've become such a fine young man, Tadashi. We couldn't be prouder of you."

"I don't want to be dead," he sobbed instead of replying. "I don't want to be dead! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, let me go back, please, I want to be alive! I have so much to do. I want to do so much. I want to see my friends, I have to be there for Hiro and Aunt Cass, please, please, send me back!"

They only hugged him tighter as he babbled.

The exposition hall continued to burn in the short distance. Firefighters were arriving on the scene. First responders had already grabbed Hiro and stolen his visibly shaken self away from the flames. Tadashi didn't think he'd ever forget the look of pure terror on his face. He was so sorry. He hadn't meant to get himself killed like that.

"I'm an - an i-idiot!" he cried. "H-H-Hi-ro s-saw! He _saw-aw!_ H-He tried - tried - t-to stop me - !"

"Shhh, shh," his mother rubbed his back with both hands. "We know. We saw, too, baby. Cass has him, now. She'll take care of him."

"Hiro," his father began, then paused, and Tadashi thought he heard a shaky breath, "...He'll be all right. He'll be all right, son."

Tadashi got the impression that was a bold faced lie. But what else could his father say? Tadashi had just traumatized his little brother, their baby, for life, and for now, they didn't seem to want to spit that in his face. Personally, he couldn't see himself ever forgiving himself. Why had he run in there instead of ushering Hiro to safety?

(He knew why. He had wanted to save Callaghan. He regretted not being able to, hoped he had gotten out all right in the end, but he regretted dying even more in that moment. It hurt so much. His chest felt like it was going to explode next. He hadn't meant to die.)

_"I'm s-so-orry!"_ he wailed. _"Ple-ease l-let me go - go back!"_

He felt his mother dig her nails into his jacket. "I wish we could, sweetheart. You have no idea how much I wish we could. I'd happily wait another seventy years to hug you like this again if it meant you could live. You're my baby; I don't want you on this side yet. But we don't have that kind of power."

"All we can do is support you through this," his father agreed. "The rest of the family, too. They're just as upset you're on this side so early, but your grandma can't wait to see you in person again. We're all going to help you with the transition. It's not easy, believe me, _we know_. That's why we're here now."

"And we're always going to watch over Hiro and Cass," his mother said. "I know it doesn't make sense right now, but we're not truly separated from them, and we are going to meet them again. This isn't the end."

Tadashi only wailed. He couldn't speak anymore.

Despite what she said, it felt like the end.


End file.
